Maytag MFI2568AEW User Manual

Maytag Ice2O French Door Refrigerator/Freezer Model

Maytag Ice2O French Door Refrigerator/Freezer ModelMaytag Ice2O French Door Refrigerator/Freezer Model

MFI2568AEW

MFI2568AEWMFI2568AEW

HV C

HV Control Board repair instruction guide

HV CHV C

ontrol Board repair instruction guide

ontrol Board repair instruction guideontrol Board repair instruction guide

Note: This information is copyrighted material designed for non-commercial informational use,

and provided as-is with no warrantee whatsoever. Use at your own risk.

Symptoms:

• Continuously flashing, blinking front panel display lights

• Ice door flapping, clicking, opening and closing continuously

• Lack of responsiveness to any button on the door

• No ice or water dispenses

Optional Symptoms

• Lights may only flash when compressor runs

• Compressor may not run at all (fridge does not stay cold anymore)

Hello:

This guide describes my adaptation of a solution that was inspired by the Samurai Appliance Repair Man (SARM) and a posting on the related appliance repair forum thread located at

http://applianceguru.com/view_topic.php?id=13035&forum_id=1&jump_to=75815 .

Since I found this info on the web for free, and you are finding this info on the web for free, if you find this helpful in saving the +/- $350 repair bill or getting the fridge fixed faster than waiting on a new board (many reports of this are back-ordered) please make the suggested donation of a “fin” to the SARM to help keep his free appliance repair forum going. Tell him “Steve sent you” ;-)

What follows are two things: the unfortunately needed legal disclaimer on the conditions of using this info, and lastly the actual description of what I did to fix my own fridge. Make no mistake, you will be fiddling with components controlling wall-outlet levels of electricity, so if you haven’t ever done something like this, find a friend who has or call in your local Maytag repair man.

In researching a fix for the fridge at 3am 7/5/07 after my fridge started the above symptoms, I located a number of sites that had reference to this problem. The SARM actually had a description of a tech going to his friend with the electronics shop and he repaired the board, it was re-installed, and seems to be working. Thus the inspiration for my attempt, which as of the writing, is about 2 days running without problem.

I consider myself handy, and an electronics hobbyist, hence why I decided to try performing the work myself. That plus I was looking at a minimum $300 repair bill to replace the HV Control Board and since it was going to be replaced anyway, I was willing to spend $5 in parts to save the $300.

So without further delay, please carefully read BOTH sections, and good luck !

- Steve

Important

Important Safety

Important Important

Safety Reminders and

Safety Safety

Reminders and Legal Stuff

Reminders andReminders and

Legal Stuff –––– DDDDon’

Legal Stuff Legal Stuff

on’t Skip:

on’on’

t Skip:

t Skip:t Skip:

Alas, with the litigious nature of this society, the following disclaimers and safety information are required and by using any of the material in this guide, you agree to the following:

• This document is a guide to opening up your fridge and fiddling with it in a manner the manufacturer did not intend a consumer to do so. Thus proceeding with these instructions could be DANGEROUS of ignoring warnings or taking needed precautions could result in damage, serious injury, OR DEATH Perhaps this is a little melodramatic, but see the next bullet.

• You will be working with the part of the fridge that controls the wall outlet electrical power. While obvious to most, UNPLUG THE FRIDGE BEFORE WORKING ON IT lest you electrocute yourself rendering the repair moot.

• You will be required to perform a de-soldering operation removing 2 electronic components (capacitors) and solder in 2 new ones. If you don’t know what soldering is, or you feel uneasy about what this might entail, ask someone who has experience with this sort of thing (who has perhaps or Velleman electronic kit).

• This document outlines a fix that appears to be common to this fridge make/model. It is possible that your fridge make/model has something else/additional wrong with it and may need a different/additional repair.

• These instructions are provided as-is where-is with no warrantee whatsoever. You decide if this is fit for your particular purpose and you assume all risks in doing so. Due to the variance of capabilities of the individual reading this, and the possible failure modes of any electronic circuit, I can’t foresee that this would be the correct course of action to take to repair your fridge without going thru an exhaustive set of diagnostics using equipment you probably don’t have. If you want a 100% (99%?) sure thing, call in the Maytag Repairman if you can pull him from fixing those toy machines on the new commercials. That’s why it costs you a buck and a quarter to get him there – he has to pay for the tools and insurance that would allow him to diagnose what’s wrong, or at least understand the whole board needs to be replaced and cover the insurance should something go awry.

• It is quite possible that your fridge is broken to the point that this repair won’t work, or that further damage to your fridge might occur either because of the repair or your attempt at the repair. If you are at all concerned by this, STOP READING NOW and don’t bother with this procedure. Get the Maytag Repairman in.

• You release me the author of this doc, and anyone who might distribute this info in part or in whole, from any liability whatsoever related to, or resulting from the use of these instructions and/or diagrams, including any incidental or consequential damages, whether you’ve told me about it or not. If your state or jurisdiction does not allow for this, then you agree you should either a) stop reading now, throw this away, and not use this guide; or b) I’ll limit my liability to you as the maximum of what you can prove you actually paid me for this information; or the equivalent of US$0.01 whichever is higher, payable by any means I choose (might be in Bolivars….), you pay postage.

• Soldering irons get REALLY, REALLY hot and can burn you in an instant. Grab the right end the first time.

• The board you’ll be working on contains delicate electronic components that can be damaged by static electricity. One static shock can make it an expensive paperweight. Wear cotton, avoid rubbing any body part on the rug and the like to minimize the risk of static shock.

• Keep the kids away while you work unless yours can understand the dangers as well and can be relied upon to follow both these instructions and yours to keep their fingers out of dangerous places. I think teaching kids how to fix things passes on an excellent skill and can help reduce the ‘throw-away” nature of our society.

• Be prepared to quickly unplug the fridge if something doesn’t look right: flames, smoke, sparks, loud noises (from the fridge, not the kids), blown fuses or tripped breakers.

• Trademarks and products names are owned by their respective companies.

• This document and photos are copyrighted materials by me describing my experiences in repairing my

fridge. I grant you a non-exclusive right to use these materials to help you better understand your fridge as long as the document stays in it’s original form, contains all copyright marks, and is not incorporated into a larger work that is then used for commercial for-fee purposes (e.g. wind up in Maytag’s repair manual…).

• Above all, use common sense. If you’re not sure you have any, ask a borrow a friend who does.

successfully

true

friend. If you know you have none,

DANGEROUS to the point

DANGEROUSDANGEROUS

OR DEATH.

OR DEATHOR DEATH

assembled a Heathkit

Overview:

Overview:Overview:

Your job is to carefully remove 2 failed components from the main High Voltage (HV) Control Board– specifically 2 electrolytic capacitors (caps) - from an electronic Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

You will need to purchase replacement parts for this repair. Additionally, you will need equipment that is common to any electronics hobbyist’s toolkit to de-solder defective parts and solder in new replacement parts. In order to get the fridge fixed as fast as possible, I used readily available (to my area) replacement parts from Radio Shack (RS). RS does not have the exact replacement parts that are used in the fridge, but they have items that are “close enough” to use. If you don’t have a RS near you that stocks these parts, you’ll have to get them by mail order from places like Jameco Electronics (www.jameco.com), or Mouser Electronics (www.mouser.com). I’ve ordered from both them before and both are reliable parts vendors. From them, you can get exact replacements.

Technical stuff:

Technical stuff:Technical stuff:

The problem with the fridge is that two electrolytic caps that are used to make a low voltage (12vDC like your car) power supply over time get weaker and fail. These are 680uF (micro Farads) 35V units that level out the rectified and now pulsing AC voltage from a transformer to a nice even DC voltage. This is a very common power supply design. Capacitors store electricity and more info can be located on the Wikipedia at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor . The failure of these electrolytic capacitors as I saw in my fridge was typical.

They were hot to the touch even after power was turned off while the others were not, the tops were domed or crowned, and after removal, they checked out dramatically lower in value than the label value of 680uF.

In looking at the PCB, I could determine that these were wired in parallel (see same Wikipedia link), and hence the circuit was using these two capacitors adding up to a total of 680uF + 680uF = 1360uF. RS had in stock a 1000uF and 470uF 35V units that could be similarly used 1000uF + 470uF = 1470uF. Since the caps had a 20% tolerance (meaning the value could vary +/- 20% from the rating) this pair could have a value anywhere between 1176uF and 1764uF. This can be considered “close enough” in such a power supply design. Remember, the caps coming out also have some +/- tolerance (my parts don’t show how much) but filters like this in power supplies are OK with a little higher value.

So when the caps fail, the power supply starts to fluctuate at the same rate as the AC wall power frequency (60Hz in the US) which can do one of two things: creates lots of electrical noise on the power supply that the fridge’s microcontroller (computer) mis-reads as important information that it needs to act upon and hasn’t a clue how to, or the power becomes so poor that the microprocessor thinks it’s just starting up from being plugged in and goes thru it’s initialization sequence which seems to include an opening and closing of the ice door flapper. This then gets repeated indefinitely while it’s plugged in, hence the flashing and flapping you see. Worst case is there is insufficient power to pull in the relays that do things like start the compressor that keeps the fridge cold with the obvious end results to the meat in your freezer. Have a Bar-B-Q with the neighbors so it doesn’t go to waste.

Whew.

Parts and Supplies List

Parts and Supplies ListParts and Supplies List

Parts needed:

(1) 1000uF radial lead electrolytic cap, Radio Shack P/N 272-1032 $1.59 (1) 470uF radial lead electrolytic cap, Radio Shack P/N 272-1030 $1.29 Total $2.89 + tax

If you don’t have soldering and de-soldering tools you’ll need these:

(1) de-soldering bulb, Radio Shack P/N 64-2086 $3.99 (1) pencil tip soldering iron, Radio Shack P/N 64-2051 $7.99

Note RS has many irons, this seems to be the cheapest (1) Rosin core solder 64-017 $1.99 Total $13.97 + tax

Other stuff:

(1) ordinary sponge (buy a new one for the sink, cause you won’t want to use this for dishes ever again) (1) 3-prong grounding extension cord (temporarily needed for testing) (1) ABC rated fire extinguisher (a safety measure) Rubbing alcohol Q-Tipstm

So a complete kit will set you back around $20. Note prices are as seen on the Radio Shack web site as of 7/7/07 and subject to change at RS’s whim.

Tools:

¼” socket and ratchet, or a ¼” nut driver, (1) flat blade screwdriver (2 if you have them) (1) set of extra hands of a helper from time to time Pair of “diagonal cutters” – a type of wire cutter

Step

Step----By

StepStep

Stop the flapping !!!

Stop the flapping !!!Stop the flapping !!!

These steps are optional if you want to stop the flapping noise while you go get the parts, presuming the compressor still runs and keeps the fridge cold. If the fridge no longer stays cold, skip these steps and just unplug the fridge

By----Step procedure

Step proceduressss::::

ByBy

Step procedureStep procedure

1. Unplug the fridge

Unplug the fridge.

Unplug the fridgeUnplug the fridge

2. If the fridge still keeps cool, then perform the rest of the steps to disconnect the flapper door opener thing-ama-bob.

3. Remove the drip tray from the bottom of the ice/water dispenser recess on the front left door. This exposes (2) ¼” screws. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1

4. Use the ¼” nut driver (or socket and ratchet) and remove the screws.

5. Understand that the upper part of this frame is held by a clip from behind that does not move. You need to pull the lower part of the frame forward that will allow you to lift it up off the top clip. So…

6. GENTLY press the lower right side of the ice/water dispenser frame towards the center and forward to unsnap the frame. Repeat for the lower left side of the frame.

7. GENTLY lift the frame up and away from the fridge a couple inches allowing you to see the wires behind.

8. Have your helper hold the frame while you unplug the small wire connector (Fig 2) from the PCB. This will stop the power from going to the door flapper and ice dispenser.

View looking down from the top

of the ice/water dispenser

Power to flapper door

and water dispenser

9. Re-assemble the front door frame by hooking it to the top and gently pressing it back into place.

10. Replace the 2 screws to keep it from popping off.

11. Replace the drip tray

12. Plug the fridge back in. If the ice door flapper is in the open position, stick a CLEAN (white preferred, color choice your decision) sock into the opening to prevent cold air from escaping.

Fig. 2

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